Russia has identified nine towns and cities across the UK for its strategic bombers to attack. Intelligence sources have warned that Vladimir Putin has a strike list for long-range bombers with two British Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) bases on hand to defend the nation from aerial attacks.
The list of locations, which includes only one town with “military links”, was passed to a British intelligence officer by a Russian agent in Eastern Europe. It also includes which military airfields the Russian bombers would fly from and the number of aircraft required for each operation.
Towns such as Aldershot, Colchester and Portsmouth are believed to already be on the list. The other possible options include the historic maritime town of Chatham, in Kent, as well as Tidworth and Salisbury, both in Wiltshire.
A Whitehall source previously said the list was possibly aimed at distracting the QRA teams at RAF Coningsby and RAF Lossiemouth. The Kremlin would use the towns and cities as a decoy before carrying out real attacks.
The source said: “The information includes details of a high-level attack in addition to a low-level strike. A Russian airstrike on UK soil would, of course, be a declaration of war, both on the UK and on the rest of Nato.”
It comes after the recent news that Putin has reportedly ordered 56 Kalibr missiles armed with nuclear warheads. Leaked documents showed that the Kremlin placed a contract with the Russian Research and Design Bureau Novator for the missiles with a “special warhead” which will be delivered between 2024 and 2026.
Russia’s army also possess a stockpile of ballistic missiles, the most prominent and frequently used of which is the 9M723 Iskander-M missile. It is more expensive and difficult to manufacture, and has a much shorter range than cruise missiles.
However, evidence suggests that Russia would have to wait until its war with Ukraine has ended before launching a bombing offensive against the UK. Both of the QRA bases are tasked with defending the nation from aerial attacks.
Since Putin sent long-range bombers and surveillance aircraft to regularly probe British airspace in 2005, a number of incidents have been reported. In 2007, the RAF scrambled Typhoon fights jets on QRA duty to escort the aircarft away on 19 occasions.
Meanwhile, in 2020 the Typhoons were scrambled on eleven occasions after Russian aircraft were reported close to UK airspace. By 2023, however, this dropped to just six occasions due to the Russian war in Ukraine.
